Tetela | |
---|---|
Ɔtɛtɛla | |
Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Region | Northern Kasai Oriental Province |
Ethnicity | Tetela people |
Native speakers | (760,000 cited 1991) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:
tll – Tetela
hba – Hamba |
Glottolog |
tete1250 Tetela
hamb1245 Hamba |
C.71
[2] |
Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ( ɡ) | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
voiced | v | |||||
prenasal | ᶬv | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | j | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Close-mid | e | o | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.
class | semantics | prefix | singular | translation | plural | translation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1, 2 | persons | o-/ɔ-/w-, a- | omfúnjí | scribe, secretary | amfúnjí | scribes, secretaries |
3, 4 | trees, etc | o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ- | ojja | place | ejja | places; region |
5, 6 | various | di-/dy-, a- | dihamvú | fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum | ahamvú | fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum |
7, 8 | various | ke-/e-, di-/dy- | kesashi | chief | disashi | chiefs |
9, 10 | animals, etc | Ø-/N-, Ø-/N- | mbódí | goat | mbódí | goats |
11, 10 | abstract concepts, etc | lo-, N- | lolémí | language | némí | languages |
12, 13 | various | ka-/k-, to-/t- | kashikɛ | helmet (from French casque) | toshikɛ | helmets |
19, 13 | various | °i- (complex morphology), to-/t- | jɔ́ndɔ́ | ??? | tɔlɔ́ndɔ́ | ??? |
Tetela | |
---|---|
Ɔtɛtɛla | |
Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Region | Northern Kasai Oriental Province |
Ethnicity | Tetela people |
Native speakers | (760,000 cited 1991) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:
tll – Tetela
hba – Hamba |
Glottolog |
tete1250 Tetela
hamb1245 Hamba |
C.71
[2] |
Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ( ɡ) | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
voiced | v | |||||
prenasal | ᶬv | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | j | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Close-mid | e | o | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.
class | semantics | prefix | singular | translation | plural | translation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1, 2 | persons | o-/ɔ-/w-, a- | omfúnjí | scribe, secretary | amfúnjí | scribes, secretaries |
3, 4 | trees, etc | o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ- | ojja | place | ejja | places; region |
5, 6 | various | di-/dy-, a- | dihamvú | fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum | ahamvú | fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum |
7, 8 | various | ke-/e-, di-/dy- | kesashi | chief | disashi | chiefs |
9, 10 | animals, etc | Ø-/N-, Ø-/N- | mbódí | goat | mbódí | goats |
11, 10 | abstract concepts, etc | lo-, N- | lolémí | language | némí | languages |
12, 13 | various | ka-/k-, to-/t- | kashikɛ | helmet (from French casque) | toshikɛ | helmets |
19, 13 | various | °i- (complex morphology), to-/t- | jɔ́ndɔ́ | ??? | tɔlɔ́ndɔ́ | ??? |